My Family and Other Ninjas
by Hanyou Yarnball
Summary: An unexpected proposal, troublesome guests, and a very open-minded Konoha! ShikaNeji,for the most part, with SasuNaru and KakaIru, among others!


Ah, my fist attempt at Naruto fiction and it's a pairing that was spotted through the dynamics of a falling tree (Don't ask). A slightly cracked up ShikaNeji attempt ahoy!

* * *

They were last people Hyuuga Neji expected to find in the front yard of his illustrious-powerful-extremely-stuck-up family's house, but there they were, the two of them, dressed as formally as they could, attempting to tone down the aura of arrogance that they exuded.

Neji wondered whether to approach them, then decided against it. It wouldn't be a good idea, not where the entire clan could be watching and waiting to raise questions on how exactly it was that he was on speaking terms with them… He was turning away to disappear until they were gone when Hyuuga Hiashi's voice stopped him.

"Ah, Neji, I was just going to send Hanabi to look for you."

"Found him," his young cousin said flatly, somehow having appeared next to him, giving Neji a look eerily reminiscent of himself as she held him by a sleeve.

Hiashi nodded. "Too slow," he said sternly. "Beat me to it, next time."

She nodded, then bowed and ran off to train. Neji found himself watching her leave before turning to his uncle, somewhat puzzled. They had been getting along better over the past few years, but one could never tell with the main house…

"There's a matter that concerns the house's future," the Hyuuga clan head said. "And I think you should join me in addressing it."

"Why?"

"Because it concerns Hinata."

That surprised him. His cousin had grown into a force to be _somewhat_ reckoned with, but for something that Hiashi referred to with such gravity to be linked to her, it could be nothing short of-

"It's not Inuzuka, is it?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"At this point the only major matter that _concerns the house's future_-" He quoted Hiashi here- "Could be Hinata-sama's marriage, and I was inquiring if it was Inuzuka Kiba who made the offer." A few years ago, he would have worried that it was Uzumaki Naruto, but after the time he'd spent with the hyperactive blond, he knew, as did most of Konoha now, that Naruto's affections lay in the direction of a rather different extremely- powerful- clan.

"In fact, it's not," Hiashi said, clearing his throat meaningfully. He looked like he wanted to jerk his head to further make his point, but wisely chose against it.

Neji was not a prodigy for nothing, he could put two and two together easily, but in this case, _four_ just refused to be the answer, it was that unlikely. Hinata-sama's marriage, not to anyone in Konoha but... Impossible.

Not wanting to be seen as an idiot for coming to the wrong conclusion, though, he pretended like he didn't catch his uncle's subliminal message.

Unfortunately, he'd been standing out in the open far too long for the two in the front yard to not notice him.

"Neji! I was wondering if you were lurking around here!"

He grit his teeth, silently cursing his uncle for stopping his escape, before inclining his head in reply to the loud greeting. "Temari, Kankuro."

The Suna village siblings sauntered up to them, apparently perfectly at ease in the home of one of Konoha's most powerful families.

"Well, Hyuuga-_sama_?" Temari asked, her tone cancelling the effect of the honorific, turning to the man with a cocky eyebrow raised. "What d'you say?"

Hiashi cleared his throat again, this time uncomfortably. "Of course, the council of elders must discuss this, and Hinata herself," he began, when Temari put a hand up to stop him. Neji wondered how it was that the hand stayed attached after what Hiashi would have taken to be a display of insolence. It seemed that the world was indeed changing.

"We get it," Temari said. "You all need to sit around a campfire and think 'bout it. We'll be back tomorrow, is that okay?"

Hiashi blinked, pale eyes not betraying the mild surprise he'd been radiating for the length of the conversation. "Yes. That would be fine."

"C'mon, Kankuro, let's get a move on! See ya 'round, Neji!" Temari called as the two of them wandered out of the grounds.

Neji looked at Hiashi, who still appeared a little stunned. "What is your opinion on this, Neji?"

"Hm?"

"Well, it's obvious isn't it? Those two were here to present a formal proposal of marriage. Hinata's hand in marriage is being sought by the Kazekage himself, Sabaku no Gaara."

* * *

Nara Shikamaru leaned back against the crates, making himself comfortable in the shade of the canopy set up on the building roof, shifting so that he could get a good view of the sky. It was a good day, he figured, when there were no missions to risk his neck on, no sudden threats to the security of the village- no reason to _move_, in other words- and a lot of time to do nothing but watch the clouds go by. The only thing that could make the experience more enjoyable would be the right company, but said company was apparently visiting relatives, so this would have to do.

As if summoned there by the very thought, there was a soft bamfing noise beside him and Neji appeared, arms crossed and frowning slightly. Shikamaru didn't get up or tell him he'd just been thinking about him, it would be too troublesome to and he figured Neji already knew that sort of thing. But when the young Jounin gave him no explanation for his displeasure, he was forced to ask, "What?"

"That girl nearly blew our cover," he stated.

Now Shikamaru sat up. Their cover was very precious to them, even he couldn't let it be blown before they were prepared. "Who?"

Neji gave him a sidelong look and the younger boy saw the faintest inking of a smile on his lips. "Temari."

Shikamaru cursed. "That troublesome woman's here again? What does she want?"

"Oh, hasn't she come to visit you yet?" he asked innocently.

"No," came the flat reply, accompanied by an equally flat gaze. "Why would she?"

"Don't be like that about your _first_ _love_, Shikamaru." It had taken a while for him to get used to it, but teasing had come easily to Hyuuga Neji, and it annoyed the heck out of his companion.

"I was _twelve_, damnit!" he protested, briefly overcoming his laziness to protect his dignity. "Twelve! Just because you were too busy hating the world when you were that age doesn't mean the rest of us were."

The smile still hadn't faded from Neji's lips. If white eyes could sparkle, Shikamaru thought, his would be gleaming wickedly.

"You went on a _date_ with her once."

"It wasn't a date," the younger ninja grumbled, leaning back once again, this time leaving enough space beside him for the other young man. "It wasn't and you know it. Now shut up and sit down."

Neji sighed, sitting down beside Shikamaru and following his gaze at the clouds. "Gaara wants to marry Hinata-sama."

This time the Chunin was startled into motion, staring at him like he'd just said he was going to start dressing like Naruto. _"What was that?"_

"Temari and Kankuro came to see Hiashi-sama today with an official proposal," Neji explained. "She was acting so familiar with me I was afraid she'd let something slip."

"Troublesome," Shikamaru groaned, putting a hand to his forehead. True, he'd had a crush on her when he was a kid, but Temari, being a good three years older than him, had taken it upon herself to become the Nara genius's older sister. _'We have similar hair, too' she'd said brightly. 'It'll be fun!' _

She had a serious younger brother complex, apparently, which came from having _unique_ _persons_ like Gaara and Kankuro to deal with on a regular basis.

The Sunagakure siblings were the only people outside their own circle of friends to know about Shikamaru and Neji, and the Chunin had always known it would lead to trouble eventually. If this led to some crazy Hyuuga trying to fry Neji's brain, he would personally ensure that the Kazekage's family never heard the last of it, as much effort on his part as it might take.

"So is Hinata gonna agree?" he asked, crossing his arms and choosing to worry about the fan wielding young woman when the time came.

"I haven't seen her," Neji replied. "She hasn't expressed an open interest in anyone since Naruto, but… _Why?_"

"I suppose it's not that surprising," Shikamaru said thoughtfully. "I always thought he was looking awfully concerned about her during your fight in the Chunin exams."

"What were you doing watching Gaara watching Hinata-sama during my fight?"

"A ninja is observant," he stated.

"Ah, you probably noticed him while you were staring at Temari."

"Shutup. _Balloon_."

Neji gave him an indignant look. This particular insult had its roots in a day when the ever energetic Rock Lee had decided spend three days in the Hokage's archives to dig up some photographs from their 'childhood spent in the cradle of naive, yet dynamic youth!'. Shikamaru had taken one look at the picture of the miniature Neji and declared that he looked like a balloon.

"Hmph. Pineapple."

Well?

It's hardly much, I know, but it's just a buncha crazy ideas my sister and I came up with one day when we were watching the Chunin Exam arc. Gaara really does look awfully worried 'bout Hinata, so we started from there.

Trust me, it gets worse, hehe. Next chapter'll have a summary of the rather twisted marriage situation in Konohagakure, so 'til then, feel free to rant at me whatever you think!


End file.
